Game Summary

Table of Contents

As you scroll down this page, the clues get progressively more revealing. So scroll slowly!

1. Spelling Bee Grid
2. Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
3. Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
4. Extra Letter Hints (Incrementally Revealing) 🤯
5. Today's Complete Solution
6. Answer Definitions

If you're just here for a list of NYT Spelling Bee answers, Jump down to the answers ↓ (Spoiler Alert!).

Spelling Bee Grid

The following table shows the standard Spelling Bee summary grid, which lists word lengths across the top and letters down the left-hand side. The cell where the word lengths and letters intersect displays the number of words in today's puzzle with the corresponding first letter and word length.

Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints

The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.

Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints

The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.

Extra Letter Hints (Incrementally Revealing)

The table below lists all of the solutions to today's puzzle, but they're concealed. You can click the plus button (+) to reveal additional letters, one-by-one.

Concealed definitions are provided as additional clues. You can toggle concealment of the definitions by clicking on the concealer bar or the text that appears when the definition is visible.

Pangrams are marked with a dagger symbol (^†).

Today's Complete Solution

The words that follow are a complete listing of all acceptable words in today's New York Time Spelling Bee puzzle.

Next to the answer word you'll see the two-letter reference (2L Ref) in parentheses. We added that 2L Ref for easier translation of the spoiler-avoidant language you see on the Spelling Bee Forum and Twitter. The 2L Ref signifies a word's two start letters followed by the total number of letters in the word.

• optimal^†  (OP7)
• appall  (AP6)
• atop  (AT4)
• impala  (IM6)
• lamp  (LA4)
• laptop  (LA6)
• limp  (LI4)
• lipo  (LI4)
• lipoma  (LI6)
• lollipop  (LO8)
• lollop  (LO6)
• loop  (LO4)
• opal  (OP4)
• optima  (OP6)
• pail  (PA4)
• palapa  (PA6)
• palatal  (PA7)
• palatial  (PA8)
• pall  (PA4)
• palm  (PA4)
• palp  (PA4)
• pampa  (PA5)
• papa  (PA4)
• papal  (PA5)
• papilla  (PA7)
• papilloma  (PA9)
• patio  (PA5)
• pill  (PI4)
• pilot  (PI5)
• pimp  (PI4)
• pipit  (PI5)
• pita  (PI4)
• pitapat  (PI7)
• plait  (PL5)
• plat  (PL4)
• plop  (PL4)
• plot  (PL4)
• polio  (PO5)
• poll  (PO4)
• polo  (PO4)
• pomp  (PO4)
• pompom  (PO6)
• pool  (PO4)
• poop  (PO4)
• poppa  (PO5)
• potato  (PO6)
• taillamp  (TA8)
• tamp  (TA4)
• tapa  (TA4)
• tilapia  (TI7)
• tiptop  (TI6)

Answer Definitions

• optimal^† (adjective): The best, most favourable or desirable, especially under some restriction.
• appall (verb): To fill with horror; to dismay.
• atop (preposition): On the top of.
• impala (noun): An African antelope, Aepyceros melampus, noted for its leaping ability; the male has ridged, curved horns.
• lamp (noun): A device that generates heat, light or other radiation. Especially an electric light bulb.
• laptop (noun): A laptop computer.
• limp (verb): To walk lamely, as if favouring one leg.
• lipo (noun): Clipping of liposuction.
• lipoma (noun): A nonmalignant tumor comprising fat cells.
• lollipop (noun): An item of confectionery consisting of a piece of candy/sweet attached to a stick.
• lollop (verb): To walk or move with a bouncing or undulating motion and at an unhurried pace.
• loop (noun): A length of thread, line or rope that is doubled over to make an opening.
• opal (noun): A mineral consisting, like quartz, of silica, but inferior to quartz in hardness and specific gravity, of the chemical formula SiO2·nH2O. A precious gem, an iridescent gemstone found in the opal-silica mineral substrate (potch)
• optima (noun): plural of optimum
• pail (noun): A vessel of wood, tin, plastic, etc., usually cylindrical and having a handle -- used especially for carrying liquids, for example water or milk; a bucket (sometimes with a cover).
• palapa (noun): An open-sided dwelling with a thatched roof made of dried palm leaves.
• palatal (adjective): Pertaining to the palate.
• palatial (adjective): Of or relating to a palace.
• pall (noun): Senses relating to cloth. Fine cloth, especially purple cloth used for robes. A heavy cloth laid over a coffin or tomb; a shroud laid over a corpse. A piece of cardboard, covered with linen and embroidered on one side, used to cover the chalice during the Eucharist. A cloth used for various purposes on the altar in a church, such as a corporal (“cloth on which elements of the Eucharist are placed”) or frontal (“drapery covering the front of an altar”).
• palm (noun): Any of various evergreen trees from the family Palmae or Arecaceae, which are mainly found in the tropics.
• palp (noun): Synonym of pedipalp.
• pampa (noun): singular of pampas
• papa (noun): Dad, daddy, father; a familiar or old-fashioned term of address to one’s father.
• papal (adjective): Having to do with the pope or the papacy.
• papilla (noun): A nipple-like protuberance on a part or organ of the body. A vascular process of connective tissue extending into and nourishing the root of a hair, feather, or developing tooth. Any of the vascular protuberances of the dermal layer of the skin extending into the epidermal layer and often containing tactile corpuscles. Any of the small protuberances on the upper surface of the tongue often containing taste buds.
• papilloma (noun): An epithelial tumour, usually benign, with the appearance of a papilla
• patio (noun): A paved outside area, adjoining a house, used for dining or recreation.
• pill (noun): A small, usually round or cylindrical object designed for easy swallowing, usually containing some sort of medication.
• pilot (noun): A person who steers a ship, a helmsman.
• pimp (noun): Someone who solicits customers for prostitution and acts as manager for a group of prostitutes; a pander.
• pipit (noun): Any of various small passerine birds, mainly from the genus Anthus, that are often drab, ground feeding insectivores of open country.
• pita (noun): A flat bread pouch used for making sandwiches such as gyros or falafels.
• pitapat (verb): Alternative spelling of pit-a-pat
• plait (noun): A flat fold; a doubling, as of cloth; a pleat.
• plat (noun): A plot of land; a lot.
• plop (noun): A sound or action like liquid hitting a hard surface, or an object falling into a body of water.
• plot (noun): The course of a story, comprising a series of incidents which are gradually unfolded, sometimes by unexpected means.
• polio (noun): Abbreviation of poliomyelitis.
• poll (noun): A survey of people, usually statistically analyzed to gauge wider public opinion.
• polo (noun): A ball game where two teams of players on horseback use long-handled mallets to propel the ball along the ground and into their opponent's goal.
• pomp (noun): Show of magnificence; parade; display; power.
• pompom (noun): A decorative ball made of pieces of soft fabric bound at the centre, most notably used in cheerleading.
• pool (noun): A small and rather deep area of (usually) fresh water, as one supplied by a spring, or occurring in the course of a stream or river; a reservoir for water.
• poop (verb): To make a short blast on a horn.
• poppa (noun): father, papa.
• potato (noun): The tuber of a plant, Solanum tuberosum, eaten as a starchy vegetable, particularly in the Americas and Europe; this plant.
• taillamp (noun): A taillight.
• tamp (verb): To plug up with clay, earth, dry sand, sod, or other material, as a hole bored in a rock.
• tapa (noun): A kind of cloth prepared by the Polynesians from the inner bark of the paper mulberry.
• tilapia (noun): Any of various edible fish, formerly species of the genus Tilapia, but now placed in other cichlid genera (such as Oreochromis), native to Africa and the Middle East but cultivated worldwide.
• tiptop (noun): The very topmost point.